The Pipe Factory

On Bain Street beside red arches offering entry to the Barras market, stands a resplendent brick building. As the name implies, it’s the site of a former clay pipe factory, dating back to 1877. It’s now used to host art exhibitions, workshops and residencies. Inside the space is as glorious as its exterior. Set over several floors connected via a winding painted staircase, the exhibition spaces are wide open, divided only by floor to ceiling pillars: empty, atmospheric spaces with the potential to be whatever the artist wants them to be. Peeling paint on the walls exposes the brickwork, and the glass in several of the arched windows is broken. Perched halfway up the staircase is a broken old slot machine whose painted front reads “all the fun of the fair”, which seems pretty apt for a venue with the potential for such whimsy.